Throwback ARCA: Broken gearbox ends Tayon Kennedy's night just seconds after the green flag waves at Lucas Oil

Tayon Kennedy picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Lucas Oil ARCA Racing Series career in the Season 1 Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 at the Lucas Oil Raceway when his #02 Southwest Florida Cable Construction Ford fell out with gearbox problems after completing 1 of the 20 laps.

The finish came in his 13th career start.

Kennedy was just starting his SCRL career when he signed up to compete in the ARCA Series, looking to have a decent season, with a goal of finishing in the Top 20 in points. In his ARCA debut, Kennedy would qualify an impressive 10th but would crash out and finish 29th at Daytona. A 9th at Atlanta would follow, 27th at Charlotte, 7th at Talladega, before scoring a series career best 2nd at Gateway. A 17th at Kentucky, 12th at Pocono, 21st at Michigan and Texas, 5th at NJMP, 17th at Iowa before finishing 22nd in the last round at Chicagoland. 

On race night, Kennedy rolled off starting an impressive 10th while starting off in the final spot was Talladega last-place finisher the unsponsored #77 Cunningham Motorsports Dodge of John Racer but as the field entered Turn 4 to start the race, Kennedy pulled down to the low lane, with his car starting to smoke, as he made contact with the #1 ModSpace Ford of Grayson Acevedo, starting a chain reaction that would start a five car wreck in Turn 1, bringing out the first caution of the day. Kennedy would limp back around to the pits, crossing the start/finish line before pulling his car behind the wall, with the team looking under the hood and discovering that the gearbox was broken, with the car being listed as "out" on Lap 3.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were drivers who would struggle during the night: 40th was the aforementioned #77 of John Racer, 39th was the #35 Venezuela Tourism Toyota of Mike Pearson, 38th was Atlanta last-place finisher the #09 Hudson Performance Drivelines Dodge of Richard Torres and 37th was Daytona last-place finisher the #32 Win-Tron Racing Chevrolet of Dinkdrinker.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #02 had finished last in a ARCA Series race as well as at Lucas Oil.
*This is the first time gearbox issues has forced a driver to finish last in the ARCA Series.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
41) #02-Tayon Kennedy / 1 lap / gearbox
40) #77-John Racer / 18 laps / running
39) #35-Mike Pearson / 18 laps / crash
38) #09-Richard Torres / 18 laps / running
37) #32-Dinkdrinker / 19 laps / running

SHAKER MEMORIAL: Late race spin places Carlos Rodriguez last in the Shaker Memorial

Carlos Rodriguez picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Shaker Memorial Race career in Tuesday's 6th Annual Shaker Memorial Race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway when his #48 Lowe's Chevrolet completed all the 30 laps under power.

The finish came in his 2nd start. 

The Shaker Memorial began in 2015 when the dog of this blog's author, Shaker, passed away in 2015, in her honor, a yearly race is held at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the closest track to where she lived, with drivers completing in a one race showdown to see who is the best. The entry list for the 6th annual, but 7th running of the event, was for the third year in a 42 car field, as for the first time in the running of the event, there would be no former winners of this event in the field.

In qualifying, rookie Johnston McClellan would impress in his first ever attempt behind the wheel in the SCRL by winning the pole with a time of 26.757. Carlos would struggle around the 1.540 track, posting a time of 26.869, while it was only 0.112 seconds off McClellan's pole time, it would place Carlos 32nd on the starting line up. Starting last in the race was the #0 NetZero / Best Buy Chevrolet of Drew Stimpson, who posted a time of 27.047 seconds, 0.290 behind McClellan pole winning time.

With over one hundred twenty thousand people in the stands, the green flag waved as Stimpson would trail for the first two turns before knocking the #92 Taco Bell Chevrolet of Jonathan Dayne into the spot, a position he would hold for one lap before knocking the #4 Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet of AJ Jones into last on Lap 2. Jones would trail for two laps before knocking the #27 unsponsored Ford of John H. White, as White would also trail for two laps before knocking the #16 National Guard Ford of Chase Miller, who would continue the streak, trailing for the next two laps. Miller would finally make a move on Lap 8 as he knocked the #09 Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts Dodge of Dallas Carpentier, who would break the streak by trailing for only one lap as he would knocked the #1 Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet of Andrew Jones into the final spot on Lap 9, a spot he would hold for two laps before knocking Dayne back to last on Lap 11, a position he would hold for the next six laps as he struggled to stay with the field as it looked like he would trail in his first ever race until the battle for last came to a sudden end.

At this point in the race, Carlos had gained six spots and was running in 26th and was battling with the #73 ARC Dehooker / joinrfa.org Chevrolet of Tyler Mills as the pair entered Turn 3 with Mills not giving up the inside line and would slide up the track some into Rodriguez, causing him to spin out in Turn 3, sliding up the track and hitting the wall with the right side of the car, causing severe cosmetic damage to the right side and rear of the car, bringing out what would be the race's lone caution of the day. Rodriguez would decide to not pit and remained on track during the caution and when the green flag came back out, he would quickly lose touch with the pack and when the checkered flag waved, Rodriguez had fallen to a full twenty six seconds behind the closest car.

Rounding out the Bottom Five were: 41st was the aforementioned #92 of Jonathan Dayne, 40th was the #21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Ford of James Zeleny, 39th was the #60 Year One Chevrolet of Joshua Wells and 38th was the #6 Viagra Ford of Brandon Mayhew.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the second time the #48 has trailed in the Shaker Memorial; the only other time it has happened was in the 4th running of the event when Nick Kennedy completed all 35 laps under power.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
42) #48-Carlos Rodriguez / 33 laps / running
41) #92-Jonathan Dayne / 33 lap / running
40) #21-James Zeleny / 33 laps / running
39) #60-Joshua Wells / 33 laps / running
38) #6-Brandon Mayhew / 33 laps / running

Throwback TRUCKS: Big One at IRP gives Evan Rudd the first last place finish of his truck career as Bottom Five fills up before Lap 13

Evan Rudd picked up the 1st last place finish of his SCRL Rainbow Dash Truck Series career in the Season 1 Action Packed Racing Cards 150 at the Indianapolis Raceway Park when his #08 Ultra Custom Wheels Ford was involved in a multi-truck crash after 11 of the 20 laps.

The finish came in his 13th career series start. 

Rudd finished 8th in his debut at Phoenix, 28th at Tucson, 13th at Saugus, 23rd at Mesa Marin, 26th at Portland, 32nd at Evergreen, 16th at I-70, 16th at Louisville, 39th at Bristol, 20th at Milwaukee, 5th at Colorado before finishing 20th in the last round at Heartland Park.

On race night, Rudd would roll off the field in 2nd place while starting last was the #10 Made For You / Circular Chevrolet of Riley Spurlytube, a position that Spurlytube would hold for the first five laps, despite being involved in the first caution with the #21 Ortho Lawn & Garden Care Ford of Chakat Whitelion. When the green flag came back out, Spurlytube would trail the field once again due to the damaged he had received, and was in last when the battle for the final spot quickly ended on Lap 11.

While battling for 4th, the #07 Exide Batteries Ford of Kyle Mests was spun out by the #5 DuPont Refinishes Chevrolet of Noah Kars, sending Mests's truck to the inside wall, hitting it with the driver's door before sliding back up the track in Turn 3 at just the same time that Rudd was trying to get past, with Rudd hitting him head on, causing a "big one" to break out. Rudd's truck was destroyed by the impact while also being hit from being by the #17 Western Auto Chevrolet of Grayson Acevedo, with Rudd limping back around to the garage, his night over.

The remaining Bottom Five would also be involved in the same Big One: 39th was Bristol last-place finisher the #25 Budweiser Chevrolet of John Racer, 38th was two time last-place finisher the #84 Coca-Cola Classic Ford of Matt Johnson, 37th was the #24 DuPont Refinishes of John Arndt and finishing 36th was the aforementioned #07 of Kyle Mests, who was able to limp back around to complete one extra lap before pulling behind the wall as well.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This was the first time the #08 had finished last in a Truck Series race as well as at IRP.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
40) #08-Evan Rudd / 11 laps / crash
39) #25-John Racer / 11 laps / crash
38) #84-Matt Johnson / 11 laps / crash
37) #24-John Arndt / 11 laps / crash
36) #07-Kyle Mests / 12 laps / crash